1 US Worker Dental Care Access & Unmet Dental Needs:  Impact of Oral Health Care  Oral Health Care Objectives of Healthy People 2010  Dental Insurance through Employers?  Study Objective: Determine the proportion of US workers meeting Health People 2010 oral health care objectives. Meeting NORA Priority Area The National Health Interview Survey 1997 to 2003 AJ. Caban-Martinez, DJ. Lee, LE. Fleming W LeBlanc, K Arheart, K Chung-Bridges, SL Christ, T Pitman Dept Epidemiology & Public Health (University of Miami Miller School of Medicine), Odum Research Institute (UNC Chapel Hill, NC)

2 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)  Multipurpose and multistage area probability cross-sectional survey of US population National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Working Adults > 18 years interviewed Employment Classification Health behaviors  SUDAAN

3 Results 66,616 Male workers and 68,388 female workers participated Among 41 Occupational Groups reporting No Dental Visit in past 12 months: 19-58% of male workers 18-50% of female workers

4 Results  Occupations in which the majority of male workers had not seen a dentist in the past year included:  Forestry and fishing occupations  Construction laborers  Farm workers and other agricultural workers  Food service workers  Freight and stock material handlers  Occupations for female workers with reported highest rates of unmet dental needs:  Construction and extractive trade workers  Construction laborers  Food service workers

5 Conclusion/Recommendations  Substantial variability in oral care utilization in different worker groups  Reliance on employers for dental health insurance leads to disparities  Continued surveillance of unmet dental needs and oral health care utilization using the NHIS Thank you / Questions?